Analysis of Organophosphate Esters in Sediment Samples Using Gas Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry

An efficient extraction and purification method coupled to gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) with electron impact (EI) was developed to determine eight organophosphate esters (OPEs) in sediment samples. OPEs were extracted from the sediments through vortex oscillation for 1 min and ultrasonic extraction using 20 mL of n-hexane and acetone mixture (1:1, V/V) for 10 min, followed by purification by Florisil solid phase extraction (SPE) column and quantitative determination by GC-MS/MS. The result showed that this pretreatment method was simple and less solvent consumption. At three spiked levels of 10, 20 and 50 μg L−1, the recovery of OPEs (except TEP) was between 80% and 120%, and the limits of detection for OPEs were 0.31 to 64.51 ng L−1, showing a good precision and accuracy in the determination of OPEs in sediment.

Graphical abstractOPEs were extracted from the sediments through vortex oscillation for 1 min and ultrasonic extraction using 20 mL of n-hexane and acetone mixture (1:1, V/V) for 10 min, followed by purification by Florisil solid phase extraction (SPE) column and quantitative determination by GC-MS/MS. The targets were separated well within 18.5 min.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide